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� 1 � • � Legislative Bill Action ............................................................... A support letter is available to download at Finally, by expanding the definition of wetlands www.cacities.org/legtracking. Please fax letters of to all waters, including ephemeral, intermittent and support to your Senator ASAP! Please also send a perennial streams that may be water bodies for only copy to League Policy Analyst Liisa Lawson at a very brief period during the year, the bill coutd be IlawsonCc�cacities.orp. Staff: Amy Brown; Status: construed to require no net loss for these areas Sen; Position: Support. and thus significantly increase the regulatory burden on projects in these areas. ENVIRONMENTAL SB 1477 will be heard next week in the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee and if passed, SB 1477 (Sher). Wetlands. Water Quality. by the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic SB 1477 would establish a new regulatory frame- Materials Committee. Interested cities should send work for wetlands and other water bodies not letters of opposition to members of these commit- previously regulated by either the State Water tees and their Assembly Members. Staff: Yvonne Resources Control Board or the federal govern- Hunter; Status: AsWP8�Wild and ment. Although SB 1477 seeks to fill the regulatory AsEnvSafe&ToxMat; Position: Oppose. gap created by a court decision regarding the authority of the Army Corps of Engineers, the SB 493 (Cedillo). Brown�elds. At long last, League believes that in reality, the bill goes far the amended version of SB 493 is in print. The beyond this goal. Instead, it would create not only a amendments are the result of lengthy and extensive new California-only regulatory scheme for wetlands, discussions among numerous stakeholders, includ- ' it would expand the authority of the state and ing the League. Sponsored by the Homeowners regional boards to regulate and require NPDES Advancement Foundation and the California Build- permits in areas never before covered. If the bill ing Industry Association and supported by the were amended to narrowly limit its applicability to League, SB 493 would enact the "California Land only the limited area previously regulated by the Reuse and Revitalization Act of 2004". It would Army Corps, the League would not object. establish a new, voluntary program to encourage re-development of brownfields by providing, under The League has several objections to SB 1477. certain circumstances, new purchasers and inno- One concern is that the bill would expand the cent property owners who did not cause the con- authority of the state and regional water quality tamination liability protection from requirements for control boards into upland riparian areas 100 further clean up or action. In order to be eligibte for meters away from water bodies that were never this immunity, the bona fide purchaser and innocent regulated by the Army Corps. It also would expand landowner would be required to prepare and imple- the range of areas considered "waters of the state" ment a response plan approved by the State De- and thus requiring an NPDES permit. partment of Toxic Substances Control or the State Water Resources Control Board. Under SB 493, the In addition, the League objects to the new actual polluter would still retain the responsibility for regulatory framework given to the State Board to total clean up of the site. protect "habitat connectivity", including the scope of this term and how broadly it could be interpreted. Under SB 493, eligible sites must be within an This could potentially increase project costs, and incorporated city, or unincorporated area sur- would establish expansive regulatory duplication for rounded by incorporated cities and densely popu- areas that previously were not subject to Water lated. The site must be vacant or underutilized land Board regulatory authority. The League also served by existing physical installations including believes that SB 1477 has serious problems that roads and power lines, and be zoned industrial, will result in regulatory duplication and overlap commercial, mixed use or in residential use for five between different state agencies as they relate to years prior to approval of the response plan. It regulation of wetlands. could not be zoned as open space or agricultural use. The bill would require a land use control (i.e., PAGE 8/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org